Apparatus for packaging hosiery blanks



March 6, 1956 H. G, BELL 2,737,324

APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING HOSIERY BLANKS Filed Aug. 30, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Zz 1- 1 u Km INVENTOR: HENRY G. BELL.

ATTORNEYS March 6, H G B APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING HOSIERY BLANKS Filed Aug. 30, 1951 2 Sheetsheet HENRY G. BELL,

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Unite States. Patent APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING HOSIERY BLANKS Henry G. Bell, High Point, N. C.', assignor, by mesne assignments, to Paramount Textile Machinery (30., Kankakee, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August30, 1951, Serial No, 244,413

3 Claims. (Cl. 223'110) This invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for packaging hosiery blanks produced on full fashioned or flat knitting machines,by means of which the blanks can be pre-set or dyed, bleached or otherwise treated with the minimum of Wrinkles and creases appearing therein, so that when the blanks are finally seamed and subjected to a boarding operation at a temperature which is greaterthan the temperature of the pre-setting bath or the dye or bleaching bath, a much finer stocking is produced and a great saving in seconds is effected.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new apparatus and method for packaging stocking blanks in which an elongated member is provided, having a plurality of diverging cavities in the two outermost portions for the reception of needles each having a thread therein and with the pointed end of the needles extending upwardly and outwardly from each other. opposed edges of the stretched blanks may be impaled on the needles until the desired number of blanks has been impaled thereon, after which the threads are drawn through the blanks and the trailing ends of the threads are knotted around the edges of the blanks, and the bunch of blanks can be rolled into bundle form and deposited in a suitable perforated bag as employed in hosiery dyeing and bleaching machines.

It is another object of the invention to provide means whereby a plurality of hosiery blanks can be placed in superposed position and have their selvage edges secured together and wound into a bundle for processing.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the detailed description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of one or more hosiery blanks impaled on the needles in the needle bar;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an isometric view of the needle bar member and showing the welts of a plurality of blanks impaled thereon;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 in Figure 3 showing one edge of the blanks after they have been lifted from the needle bar and with the needle and its thread passed therethrough and partially tied;

Figure 5 is an isometric view of a plurality of blanks rolled into a bundle, after having their edges secured to each other and removed from the needle bar member.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the welt portion of a blank is indicated at 10, a shadow welt, if any, at 11 and a line of picot stitches at 12. The blank also has a leg portion 14, heel pockets 15 and 16, foot portion 17 and looper rounds or toe portion 18.

The means provided for securing the selvage edges of the blanks together in bundles comprises a bar or Thus,

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2. member 20', preferably of steel to giveweight thereto southat it willnot have to be secured'in position on the knitting machine, although it is evident that the bar 20 may be of any. suitable material. The-barzfl', sometimes referred to as a-needle-bar or member, has a plurality of longitudinally spaced bores 2l therein of the right width to permit aneedlev 22with a thread 23 therein to clampingly or closely fit in the cavities orbores 21: It is noted that these bores 21 are positioned in groups adjacent each end of the bar 20 and the bores in. each group extend-upwardly and-outwardlytowards. the ends of the bar 20 so that the bores in each group extend in diverging relation tothe bores in the-other group. A needle 22 is-positioned with the head thereof down in a bore 21 at each end of the'bar 20, the plurality of spaced bores 21 permitting'the need1es22 to be placed the proper distance apart. to accommodate stocking blanksof various widths.- A-plurality'of bl'anks may then be impaled on the needles 22 and it willbe': noted that the bores 21 extend in diverging relation to each other so that the tension naturally present in the blanks. will tend to pull the upper ends of the needles in opposed ends of the bar towards each other to thus-lock the needles against displacement.

After a given quantity of the blanks have been impaled on the needles 22, the needles are lifted from their bores and then pulled through the blanks and the thread is pulled through the blanks until its trailing end is almost ready to be pulled through the blanks. In this position the'thread is tied tightly across the outer edges of the blanks to thus secure the edges of the blanks together.

The edges of the blanks are impaled on the needles preferably a few wales from the selvage edge and in the picot stitches 12, if same are present, so that if a set mark is formed by the tie threads 23, such a mark will be covered in a seaming operation. Furthermore, by impaling the blanks through the picot stitches, even if the set marks should not be covered in a seaming operation, it would have the appearance in the finished stocking of a picot stitch and not a deformation of the stitch structure. I

Let us assume that the blanks are packed in bundles of one dozen. Now, when one dozen blanks shall have been impaled on the needles and the threads are looped and tied, the bunch of blanks are then preferably rolled into a spirally formed bundle as shown in Figure 5 and inserted in a perforated bag which is used in dyeing machines, bleaching machines and the like. It is not necessary or even desirable to tie a string around the bundle as this might result in set marks in the subsequent operations to which the blanks are subjected. One such operation is shown and described in my patent, Number 2,549,564 of April 18, 1951.

It sometimes may be desirable not only to secure the blanks together at their welt portion, but to also secure them at one heel pocket and at the end of the toe or looper rounds. If such should be desired, one of the needle bars 20 can also be placed diagonally as shown in the lower portion of Figure l and one heel pocket 16 and the extreme end of the toe portion 18 can be secured on needles 22, arranged in the proper bores. One reason why the needle bars have a plurality of bores 21 is to permit the same bars to be used for the heel and toe operation as well as for the welt operation. Also, the plurality of bores are necessary to accommodate the varying widths of blanks in the various sizes of stock ings which may be processed thereon.

It might be stated that since normally not over one dozen batches would be produced by an operator on a section of a knitting machine during a shift, that a sufficient length of thread is placed in each needle at the beginning of a shift to last for the entire shift. These bars rest on a suitable support adjacent the knitting machine or on the knitting machine so that as the blanks are removed from the machine on which they are fabricated, they are impaled on the needles, and thus the blanks are carried from the knitting room in rolled bundles, ready for insertion into suitable perforated bags.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for packaging stocking blanks comprising, a pair of needles each having an eye at one end for receiving a thread, a member having two laterally spaced series of spaced bores in its upper surface, said bores of each series diverging from the bores of the other series and being of a size to snugly receive the threaded eye 20 of the other series and being of a size to snugly receive the threaded eye end of one of said needles, said needles being adapted to have impaled thereon the selvage edges of a plurality of stocking blanks.

3. Apparatus for packaging full-fashioned stocking blanks, comprising a rigid member having a pair of laterally spaced, upwardly diverging bores extending from its upper surface and terminating short of its lower surface and a needle having a thread receiving eye end snugly and removably received by each of said bores so that said needles diverge upwardly and outwardly from said upper surface of said member, the divergence of said needles aiding in maintaining said needles in position in said bores when stocking blanks are deposited in stretched condition thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 73,572 Brock Jan. 21, 1868 160,419 Goldsmith Mar. 2, 1875 374,399 Donovan et al. Dec. 6, 1887 1,706,949 Ashley et a1. Mar. 26, 1929 2,087,508 Fair July 20, 1937 2,152,493 Newman Mar. 28, 1939 2,521,685 Block Q. Sept. 12, 1950 2,588,589 Tauber Mar. 11, 1952 

